Closure for receptacles.



1. ALBERTI.

CLOSURE FOR RECEPTACIES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.26. 1913- RENEVIED DEC. 23. l9l6.

Patenwd July 31, 1917.

WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEY; 1

Q Kaza- STATES PATENT OFFICE. JOH menu, or New xonx, N. "1., ASSIGNOB 'ro INTERNATIONAL coax comrANY, 1; or rinooxnxN, NEW atoms, a conronnrroN or NEW YORK.

' otosuan roa' ancnrracnas.

Specification of Letters latent. I

Patented July 31, 1917.

Original applioaflon fled J'une as, 1918, Serial Not-115,353. D1vided and this application fled August as, 1918;8ei1a11io. 788,700. Renewed December 28, 1916. Serial No. 138,688.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ALBERTI, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closures for Rece tacles, of which the following is a spec cation, the same being a division of application for U. S. Letters Patent, Ser. No. 775,353, filed June 23, 1913.

The present invention relates to'closures or stoppers for bottles, cans and like receptacles; more particularly it pertains to closures of the cap variety, including those termed crown corks.

Closures of this type",comprise usually three parts, that is a metallic cap or crown to be locked to the neck offthe bottle, etc., a sealing disk or packing of cork or the like, and a fusible impervious cementing medium, for instance in the form of a disk, inter posed between the metallic cap andthe sealmg disk.

In manufacturing these closures, the cementing material is fused and the assembled closure subjected to pressure before the cementing material sets or hardens, whereby it I unites the sealing disk with 'the metallic cap. Usually the three parts mentioned are v posed of copal gum, resin and a waxy subp the extent of exposure to heat to properly. fuse the cementing medium is always first assembled, and the closure, as a whole, then subjected .to heatingaction to fuse the cementing material, pressure being applied afterward. In other cases, the caps contain bnly the cementing material when heat is applied to the same, the sealing disks being inserted subsequently.

Generally the cementing medium is comstance, or of copal gum and some other suitable material or materials. To properly fuse the'cementing medium, theouter surface of the metallic cap is subjected to heating action of at least. 300v Fahrenheit, the heat being conducted by the cap to the cementing medium. It has been found that ruinous to decorated caps inasmuch as it afiects the paint used in decorating the same, and otherwise defaces the caps. Even plain caps cannot well be heated to such extent inasmuch as they are transported from one place to the other on. the assembling and uniting machine at a speed which sometimes ing face of the sealin insoluble by subjectin prevents the proper extent ofexposure to heat which is required to fuse both faces of the cementing medium, the latter bein usually in the form of a paper .disk whic has been soaked in or carried through, a molten mixture of the substancesabove mentioned.

In practice it has been found that if a closure of this type is exposed to moist heat, as for instance in pasteurizing bottled beer, etc., the union between the sealing disk and the metallic cap is affected to a great de-v gree, and'in some cases, in fact, destroyed. If too much of the fusible cementing mecontents of the bottle subjected to heat, the

cementing medium exudes toward the workdisk and drips into the liquid contents 0 the bottle, forming beads therein.

In manufacturing these caps, in many cases the cutting mechanism of the assembling machine fails to deposit a disk of cementin medium into a cap, in which case,

obvious y, a union cannot be made between the sealing disk and the metallic cap. Furthermore when the assembled closures are subjected to heating action, the sealing disks, if they are of cork,.lose to some degree their toughness by reason of the high temperature to which they are subjected, or they may be rendered entirely useless if they are of the artificialor composite type, inasmuch as the latter contain a binding material, which is in most cases affected by heat.

The main object of the present invention is to produce a closure for receptacles, in which a firm union between the metallic cap and the sealing disk or packing is obtained by the aid of a liquid-or viscous cementing medium, which is coagulated and rendered the closure to heat maintained substantia y below the boiling point of water, that is to say at a. point which is considerably below the heat necessary in all processes heretofore in use. All defects ofthe closures above described are thus obviated. r

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter 'fully described, ointed out in the appended claims and i ustrated in the ascompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made 1n the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the splrit of the invention. 7

One of he many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is'a plan view of a closure conresent mstructed in accordance with the vention; Fig. 2 is acentral vertical section taken throughthe same; and Fig. 3 is a central vertical section taken through a modified closure.

In the drawings a bottle closure of the crown cork type has been shown'for purposes of illustration. It is, however, 0bvious that the invention may be applied to any and all closures of the cap variety, the forms of the metallic ca of the closures being entirely immateria as far as the inunited with the cap by aninterposed cementing medium, denoted by the numeral 14. The nature of this cementing medium will be described hereinafter.

In manufacturing these closures, themetallic cap, is charged with a cementing medium, either liquid or viscous, coagula-ble by heat, and posse$ing further chemical properties, hereinafter fully described. The sealing disk or packin of cork or the like is then inserted into the cap on top of the cementing medium, the assembled closure subjected to pressure and exposed to heat, which will cause the cementing medium to coagulate and to unite the metallic cap with the sealing disk'or packing. Instead of charging the capwith the cementing medium, ob-

viously that face of the sealing disk may be coated therewith which is to contact with the inner face of the cap.

The cementing medium is, preferably, either of a type which is coagulated and rendered insoluble by heat alone, or by heat and suitable chemical agents mixed therewith. Certain proteids or substances made up partly of proteids, such as'albumin or blood, may be used for the purpose at hand, the same being coagulated and rendered insoluble by heat. Albumin has been found to be particularly adapted for use in .connection with the present'dnvention, it being inodorous, tasteless, soluble in water before use, and coagulates at 140 Fahrenheit. The assembled closures can be subjected to pressure without changing thechemical 'proper- 7o ties of the albumin, and when they are, after the pressure is applied and while it is maintained, subjected to heat, the albumin is easily coagulated and rendered insoluble, and forms an eflective cementing medium for uniting the parts of the closures. Substances of the second type mentioned are, for instance, gelatin and gylcerin, which, when mixed with an aqueous solution of formaldehyde and heated, coagulate and are rendered insoluble.

If necessary, a paper or other disk may be interposed between the metallic cap and the sealin disk. A structure of this type is shown in ig. 3 of the drawings comprising a cap 15, having disposed thereln' a disk 16 of paper or similar material, that is united with the cap by the cementing. material above described, and denoted by the numeral 17. On top of this disk is placed a sealing disk 18 of cork or like material, joined with the said disk 16 by cementing material 19 of the'character above specified. In such cases the cap is first charged with a suitable quantity of cementing medium, the paper disk placed on top of-it, the exposed face of said paper disk coated with the cementing medium, after which the sealing disk is deposited into the cap, and the assembled closure subjected to the treatment abovemen tioned, or the paper or other disk may be coated before insertion with the cementing medlum. ljhe pressure on the closure is, preferably, mamtained only until the cementing medium has been properly coagulated. The coagulation results in a firm union between the parts of the closure, such union being instantaneous, particularly when albumin is used. If found necessary, obviously the pressure on the parts of the closure can be maintained'for some time after coagulation.

It is to be observed that the temperature at which the cementing medium is coagulated is considerably below the heat applied in all processes of manufacture heretofore in use, and for this reason the process herein described can be used in connection with plain and decorated caps, and with all sealing disks, whether they beof cork or the artificial or composite type. Inasmuch as the cementing medium is rendered insoluble,

the union between the parts of the closure will not be destroyed if it is subjected to moist heat, for instance when pasteurizing bottled beer, etc. The cementing medium forms an insoluble and impermeable film between the sealing disk and the metallic cap,

wherefore the contents of a bottle cannot work their way through the cementing medium, nor is the latter able to drop into the contents in the form of beads, or otherwise. A better and more eifective union is formed for the reason that the cementing medium adheres to metallic caps irrespective of the fact whether the caps are spotted with greasy or oily matter or not. The cementing media heretofore in use were defective in this respect, inasmuch as they did not adhere'to greasy or oily metallic surfaces.

It is obvious that, while herein specified cementing materials have been described, others may just as Well be made use of Without departing from the spirit of the invention, which lies mainly in the production of closures of the cap variety, including crown corks, wherein the metallic caps and sealing disks are united by the aid of a cementing medium which is coagulated and rendered insoluble by heat. It is intended to include in the appended claims inthe term cementing medium such as are coagulated and rendered insoluble by heat either by reason of their chemical properties, or by the aid of suitable chemical agents mixed therewith. It is furthermore intended to include in the term cementing medium the said medium alone or a disk of paper or other material coated therewith, What I claim is l 1. A' closure for receptacles comprising a metallic cap, a sealing disk, and an interposed heat-coagulated cementing medium.

2. A closure for receptacles comprising a metallic cap, a sealing disk, and an interposed cementing medium coagulated and rendered insolubleby heat.

3. A closure for receptacles comprising a metallic cap, a sealing disk or packing of cork or the like, and an interposed cementing medium composed of heat-coagulated albuminous substance.

4. A closure for receptacles comprising a metallic cap, a sealing disk, and an interposed liquid cementing medium rendered insoluble by heat.

5. A closure for receptacles comprising a metallic cap, a sealing disk, and an interposed cementing medium rendered insoluble by heat.

6. A closure comprisin a shell and a sealing disk, the shell and 1sk being stuck together by an interposed layer of fibrous material carrying a sticking material which is set by heat.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 19th day of August, A. D. 1913.

JOHN ALBERTI.

Witnesses:

SIGMUND HERZOG, S. BIRNBAUM. 

